The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

, was only open to professional clubs in France which play in country's top three football divisions, though the third is not fully professional. The most successful team in the competition was

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

with nine wins, including the last edition in 2019–20. The LFP voted to suspend the competition indefinitely to "reduce the season schedule".

Precursors

Another competition named Coupe de la Ligue existed from 1963 to 1965. In 1982, a Coupe d'Eté (Summer cup) was held before the start of the French league season; the cup was won by Laval. This tournament continued under the name of Coupe de la Ligue, until 1994, before the beginning of the French season. (The 1991 edition was open only for Division 2 Teams).

History

The tournament in its last format started in 1994 and was initiated by the professional teams because of their displeasure with the Coupe de France, thanks to its built-in home advantage for teams playing in the lower leagues. Entrance to the UEFA Cup, now called the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, was offered to the winning team. Its first winner was

, after their 2–0 victory over

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

. The first final decided by a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

was in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

when

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

beat

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. The first three finals were held at

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

; from the 1998 edition until

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, the finals have been held at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and Paris Saint-Germain won the competition at both stadiums. Gueugnon became the first team below the top division of France to win the cup after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the 2000 final. Overall, there were 14 winners of the competition since its inception. For over 20 years from its inception, finals of the tournament were only held in the Paris area: the first three were at the

and the rest at the

. This changed in September 2016 when the LFP announced that the next three finals would be held in Lyon, Bordeaux and Lille respectively. The LFP suspended the competition indefinitely after the 2019–20 season, to reduce fixture congestion. In the last final in 2020, Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon drew 0–0 and the former won 6–5 on penalties.

Winners

Records

*Most tournament wins (team): 9,

*Most final appearances (team): 10,

*Most tournament wins (player): 6, Edinson Cavani, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva and

Marco Verratti Marco Verratti (; born 5 November 1992) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Qatar Stars League club Al-Arabi SC (Qatar), Al-Arabi. A technically gifted playmaker, Verratti began his ...

(2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020) *Most tournament wins (manager): 4, Didier Deschamps (2003, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (; born 19 November 1965) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back and is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Club (J ...

(2009, 2014, 2015 and 2016) *All-time top goalscorer (player): Edinson Cavani and Pauleta, 15 goals each *Most goals scored in a season (player): 7, Stéphane Guivarc'h (1997–98) *Most goals scored in the final (player): 8, Edinson Cavani (2 in 2014, 2 in 2015, 2 in 2017, 2 in 2018)

References

External links

Coupe de la Ligue information on LFP.fr
{{National football (soccer) league cups Recurring sporting events established in 1994 1994 establishments in France 2020 disestablishments in France Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2020 Defunct football competitions in France Defunct football cup competitions